Stress Awareness Month: Tips for Writers

Stress Awareness Month is an annual designation observed in April. Everyone feels stressed from time to time, but too much of it can be detrimental to our emotional and physical health. Writers can know this all too well between fitting writing time into an already busy life plus the additional stress of overcoming creativity roadblocks.

Here are 5 stress relief tips for writers:

1. Identify your stressor and figure out solutions.

You can use a journal, a good friend, or whatever method you feel most comfortable with, to really zero in on the real cause of your stress. Once you understand the source of your stress, you can take action to relieve it.

2. Make time for stress-relieving activities.

Just like you should eat well and exercise every day, so should you participate in a stress-managing activity every day. Whether it’s stretching, exercise,  or gardening, find an activity to do every day that relaxes you.

3. Know when it’s time to reduce the number of stressors.

Maybe it’s time to delegate some tasks at work or bow out of a few community activities. Take a few days to write down all your stressors, then review your list and see which items you can let go of, even if temporarily.

4. Acknowledge any unhealthy responses to your stress.

One of the worst responses to stress is to overindulge in behaviors like excessive overeating or time in front of the television. When these behaviors start to kick in, have the courage to face them and seek a solution.

5. Change your point of view.

Use the energy that stress creates to fuel your action toward a solution. Stress is a helpful signal that something needs to change in your life.